Renesas Electronics Corporation, introduced the RA0L1 microcontroller (MCU) Group based on the Arm Cortex-M23 processor. The new devices offer low power consumption and capacitive touch in battery-powered and other consumer electronics, appliances, white goods, and industrial system controls.
Renesas introduced the RA0 MCU series in 2024 and it has quickly become popular with a wide range of customers due to its affordability and low power consumption. With the addition of capacitive touch functionality, RA0L1 devices offer designers the ability to create responsive, attractive, low-power user interfaces at very low cost.
RA0L1 MCUs deliver industry power consumption of only 2.9mA current in active mode, and 0.92mA in sleep mode. In addition, an integrated High-speed On-Chip Oscillator (HOCO) enables the fastest wake-up time for this class of microcontroller. The fast wake-up enables the RA0L1 MCUs to stay in Software Standby mode more of the time, where power consumption drops to a minuscule 0.25µA. With this feature, current consumption can be reduced by up to 90% compared with other solutions.
Feature set optimised for low cost
The RA0L1 devices have a feature set optimised for cost-sensitive applications. They offer a wide operating voltage range of 1.6 to 5.5V so customers don’t need a level shifter/regulator in 5V systems. The RA0L1 MCUs also integrate multiple communications interfaces, analogue functions, safety functions and security functionality to reduce customer BOM cost. A wide range of packaging options is also available, including a tiny 4 x 4mm 24-pin QFN.
In addition, the new MCU’s high-precision (±1.0%) HOCO improves baud rate accuracy and enables designers to forego a standalone oscillator. Unlike other HOCOs in the industry, it maintains this precision in environments from -40 to 125°C. This wide temperature range enables customers to simplify thermal design by avoiding costly and time-consuming ‘trimming,’ even after the reflow process.
Renesas capacitive touch leadership
Renesas provides industry capacitive touch technology, ensuring customers can quickly and cost-effectively implement touch interfaces in a variety of systems. Its self-capacitance method simplifies waterproof design, offering simpler design and reduced complexity compared to mutual capacitance solutions. Renesas’ multi-frequency measurement meets IEC61000 4-3 Level 4 standards, making it ideal for medical applications that demand robust protection from electromagnetic interference. Renesas also offers specialised development resources for capacitive touch, including the QE for Capacitive Touch that streamlines sensitivity adjustments for capacitive touch buttons, speeding up development.
“The RA0L1 combines the industry-leading power consumption and cost-effectiveness of our RA0 Series MCUs with our unmatched capacitive touch technology and tools,” said Daryl Khoo, Vice President of the Embedded Processing Marketing Division at Renesas. “We look forward to the many innovative touch interface solutions that our customers will create using these devices.”
